Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1887-02-12


I. W. Hieginson in Harper's Bazaar.
The physiologtes tell US that nervousness Is the
peculiar attribute OF women. May not this be be
cause 1t Is usually men who write the physolog1es,
so that women might perhaps say, like the lions in
Esops fable, that IL the other party had been the
painters the case would be different? 1t would be
worth while TO consult the wife of the musical
enthusiast, for instance, who has car
ried his art to such point that it
causes him and everybody else more pain
than pleasure, the man who must have every
door in the house deadened, every carpet doubled,
every visitor seen by some one else before admit
lance, and the children banished to regions mac
cessible and fnaudi0le. Paganini, the greatest OF
vlOnsts, IS reported TO have found existence an
absolute burden because It held so many intolera-
DE sounds; and many woman has found her
husband, even where unprofessional claiming the
privilege OF Paganini's senSitiveness without his
condition exhibited by some perfectly healthy men
when called upon to appear before the public to
make few remarks" or even introduce q
speaker.
The terrors Of nervous prostration-that calam-
1ty which seems new foe, but is really only new
name for an old one-haunt men almost equally
with women. II men hold out longer against its
approaches, which is doubtful, they succumb al
most more hopeiessly, and need longer for . cure.
for year or two undertaken to combine
too many different anxieties-for instance, a
and the study
utter helpeSsness and frequent tears and re-
manned there for years "More pangs and fears than
wars OF women have" were their penalty for an
over-taxation OF the nervous system. The fact
that, as the life insurance companies tell US
women on the whole outlive men, seems to indi-
cate that their nerves. II more sensitive than those
OF men, are more elastic and Offer better resist
ance 10 the wear and tear of events; for we must
which prove Us @ but she small ones bee
cause these call out less IN the way OF resources to
meet them, just as people take cold more readily
after warm bath than after a cold one, for want
OF reaction.
There exists In every household short and
easy method OF testing the comparative nervous
ness OF the sexes. Take the very sweetest and
most domestic OF men, the most home-lOving and
equable, and see il he can have patience with the
less gifted BY nature 1 With these fine auaiites
the children may be the sweetest ever born.
and yet each win be pretty sure to
when its ross-questionings, its needless
reslstlngs, its chronic deafnesses, its endless
'What?" and "Why?" and "Whom did you say7"
Will furnish grounds for practice for saintShip.
Not that all mothers are equal to this task-far
from it; but when it comes TO nerves, the average
that puts the average father to shame 1 knew
shrewd woman who. whenever her husband had
given her lecture on nervousness, used to con-
trve 10 have him dress one or two OF the children
lor school on winters morning, after break
last slightly belated. The good man would
fall meekly into the trap not clearly remembering
the vaStneSS OF the labOr-the adjuStings and the
tyings and the outtonings; the 1eggings and the
overdrawers and the arctic shoes; the Jacket,
oCdii coat, gloves, mitUehS, WrlSterS; Inc nat or
cap or hood, TO be pulled and pushed and tied in
proper position; the complete way in which all
these things, besides being put on, have to mu-
tualy made fast by strings and buttons and safety
pins, so that the child thus dressed is
like a wefl-packed barrel OF china, be
sent around the world without injury. Calm
must be the SPIRIT high the purpose OF the father
Who reaches the end OF this complex task without
a word OF impotence, while the wife whom he
calls nervous has long since taken off his hands
the other child assigned to him, and has long
since with deft hands dressed her, and given one
patient, final, allcomprehending twitch, and the
whole thing Is DONE II you doubt whether men
are on the whole, and In their own way, as nerv-
Gus as women, test them with getting the children
ready Tor school, and remember that their mother
does IT twice day at least, every day OF her life.